Indian Foreign Secy Misri concludes his busy two-day visit

Kathmandu, Aug. 12

India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri returned home on Monday after concluding his two-day official visit to Nepal, which began on Sunday.

Before his departure, Misri met with Deputy Prime Minister and Urban Development Minister Prakash Man Singh at the Ministry of Urban Development in Singha Durbar. They discussed potential cooperation in urban development, waste management, and cleaning the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers.

Singh suggested that Nepal could benefit from India's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign), particularly its experience in cleaning the Ganga River, and sought assistance with constructing a suspension bridge over the Mahakali River to ease border movement.

Similarly, Misri held a courtesy meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel at the Ministry of Finance. They discussed economic and development assistance, the progress of ongoing projects, and bilateral relations.

Misri also paid a courtesy call on Minister for Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak at his office at the Singha Durbar on Monday.

According to the Secretariat of the Minister Lekhak, bilateral interests and concerns were discussed between them during the meeting.

The Home Minister said that he is confident that the relations between Nepal and India will be further expanded and strengthened during Foreign Secretary Misri’s tenure.

Mentioning that India is an important development partner of Nepal in the fields of security, infrastructure, energy, and water resources, among others, Minister Lekhak thanked Foreign Secretary Misri for the assistance provided by India in building Nepal's infrastructure along with capacity building of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force.

On that occasion, Minister Lekhak reiterated Nepal's commitment not to allow the land of Nepal to be used against its neighbouring countries.

According to his secretariat, the Home Minister said that the investment made by the Government of India in Nepal would be fully secured and that there was a need to increase mutual coordination and cooperation in order to control the crime and illegal drug trade in the border area.

Likewise, Misri also paid a courtesy call to Foreign Minister Dr. Arju Rana.

During their meeting at the Ministry, they discussed various aspects of bilateral relations, including economic and development assistance, and ongoing projects.

FM Dr. Rana requested increased air routes to enhance Nepal-India connectivity and proposed establishing a laboratory to assess the quality of vegetables and fruits imported through border areas.

They also talked about the progress at the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, noting that most issues have been resolved and the remaining concerns will be handled by the technical group. Dr. Rana highlighted the need for releasing water from the Tanakpur Dam Canal, and controlling floods in the Bandganga, Khando, and Rapti rivers, and providing assistance to mitigate risks.

Additionally, FM Dr. Rana highlighted the importance of continuing dialogue on trade and transportation and thanked the Indian Government for its support following the Jajarkot earthquake.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs of India (MEA) said in a statement on Monday that Nepal and India appreciated the progress made in the mutually beneficial partnership in the field of power sector cooperation, which has seen substantial progress in the recent years.

"In this context, it was noted with satisfaction that the manifold increase in Nepal's hydropower export to India in the last 2-3 years has created additional source of revenue for Nepal and of clean energy for India. The role of power sector cooperation in Nepal's graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status in 2026 was also highlighted," read the statement.

The MEA also said that both the sides noted the substantial progress achieved in the recent years in bilateral cooperation, especially in various areas of connectivity - physical, digital, energy as well as people-to-people, which is manifested in the steady implementation of infrastructure projects related to roads, bridges, Integrated Check Posts, cross-border railways as well as petroleum pipelines.

Misri arrived in Kathmandu on August 11 for a two-day visit and paid courtesy calls on President Ramchandra Paudel, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda’ on that day.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Oli, through Misri, has extended invitation to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, to visit Nepal.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 13 August 2024.